?”?°?€????é??: freeloader
I like a stroll down memory lane as much as the next guy, but lately a spate of possible "new" laws seems a bit too close to the "old" laws for comfort. I'm thinking about the discussion concerning ???°?»???? ???»?? ???„???†???°?»?????? ???µ?€?°?±???‚?°???‰???… ?‚?€?????????????????±???‹?… ???€?°?¶???°?? (a tax on able-bodied citizens who are officially not working). My first question is, of course, what constitutes ???„???†???°?»?????? (officially)? And my second question is: ?’?‹ ?‡?‘ ?€?µ?±???‚?°, ???????‚???»??? (Yo, guys, you nuts or what?)
However you dress this up with words like ???°?»???? (tax), an "officially not-working able-bodied citizen" is called ?‚?????µ?????µ?† and what this not-working citizen does is called ?‚?????µ???????‚????. ???????µ???????‚???? is a compound word formed from ?‚?????µ, an old word meaning "for free, without pay" and ?????‚??, another old word meaning "to eat." So ?‚?????µ???????‚???? is "eating for free." This is ???°?€?????µ?? and ???°?€?????µ?????‚???? in more modern Russian. This is exactly what English speakers call freeloading, mooching, sponging, or bumming.
Alas, those words are a bit too slangy for this bureaucratic concept, which is usually rendered as "parasitism." In fact a synonym for this in Sovietese is ?????†???°?»?????‹?? ???°?€?°?·???‚???·?? (social parasitism).
Let's re-examine some of the lexicon of social parasitism in case it makes a full comeback.
From the very start of Soviet power, ?‚?????µ???????‚???? was a Very Bad Thing. In December 1917 — that is, two months after the Revolution ?€” Vladimir Lenin wrote about it: ???‹?????‡?? ?„???€?? ?? ???????????±???? ???€?°???‚???‡?µ?????????? ???‡?‘?‚?° ?? ???????‚?€???»?? ?·?° ?±?????°?‚?‹????, ?¶???»?????°???? ?? ?‚?????µ?????†?°???? ?????»?¶???‹ ?±?‹?‚?? ???‹?€?°?±???‚?°???‹ (We must develop thousands of forms and way to register and discipline the affluent, crooks and freeloaders). Among the methods used successfully around the country, Lenin noted: ???????‚?°?????‚?? ???… ?‡?????‚???‚?? ?????€?‚???€?‹ (making them clean the outhouses) and ?€?°?????‚?€?µ?»?????°?‚?? ???° ???µ???‚?µ, ???????????? ???· ???µ?????‚??, ?????????????‹?… ?? ?‚?????µ???????‚???µ (shooting on the spot one out of ten people guilty of not working).
I bet that got everyone's attention.
By 1936, working wasn't just a right, but an obligation written into the constitution: ???€???? ?? ??????? ?????»???µ?‚???? ???±???·?°?????????‚???? ?? ???µ?»???? ?‡?µ???‚?? ???°?¶???????? ???????????±???????? ?? ?‚?€?????? ???€?°?¶???°???????° ???? ???€?????†??????: "???‚?? ???µ ?€?°?±???‚?°?µ?‚, ?‚???‚ ???µ ?µ???‚" (Labor in the Soviet Union is an obligation and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen according to the principle: "he who does not work, does not eat.")
Not working ?€” ?‚?????µ???????‚???? ?€” was defined this way: ?????????° ?»???†?? ?????»???????µ?‚???? ???‚ ???±?‰?µ???‚???µ?????? ?????»?µ?·???????? ?‚?€?????° ?? ???€???¶?????°?µ?‚ ???° ???µ?‚?€?????????‹?µ ?????…?????‹ ?±???»?µ?µ ?‡?µ?‚?‹?€?‘?… ???µ?????†?µ?? ???????€???? ???»?? ?? ???±?‰?µ?? ???»???¶???????‚?? ?? ?‚?µ?‡?µ?????µ ???????° (when a person eschews socially useful labor and lives on non-earned income for more than four months in a row or a total of four months over the course of the year).
???±?‰?µ???‚???µ?????? ?????»?µ?·???‹?? ?‚?€???? (socially useful labor) was ?‚?€???? ?? ???°?????†?????????€?????°???????? ???????????°?€???‚?????? ?„???€???µ (labor in a form sanctioned by the state). That's what got Joseph Brodsky in trouble. When he was on trial for ?‚?????µ???????‚???? in 1964, he said he worked as a poet. But the judge asked: ?? ???‚?? ???‚?? ???€???·???°?», ?‡?‚?? ???‹ ???????‚? (Who said that you were a poet?)
Today you can rent out your apartment, self-publish your poetry, or live off your stock dividends ?€” just pay income tax. But if you are officially not working, you may also have to pay a no-income tax.
?’???µ?? ????????? (Got it?)
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.
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